The invention relates to a sanitary change-over valve having a valve housing which has one valve inlet and two selectively actuatable valve outlets, having a valve piston which is movable from a first switch-over position in which the fluid is guided by way of a flow path that is routed through a first valve outlet to a second switch-over position in which the fluid is guided by way of a flow path that is routed by way of a second valve outlet as soon as that portion of the second flow path that is routed beyond the change-over valve has been released, wherein the valve piston is configured as a hollow body through which the fluid in the course of at least one of the flow paths is routed by way of at least one piston inlet that is disposed on the piston circumference.
The present invention also relates to a sanitary functional group having a change-over valve of the type mentioned at the outset.
A change-over valve of the type mentioned at the outset is already known from EP 1 664 957 B1, said change-over valve being able for example to be fitted into the water line that leads to a head shower that is fitted to a wall or a ceiling, so as to guide the water selectively on demand by way of the change-over valve or else to a hand shower that has optionally also been subsequently connected. The previously known change-over valve to this end has a valve housing having one valve inlet and two selectively actuatable valve outlets of which a first valve outlet can be routed by way of a first flow path to the head shower, for example, while a second valve outlet by way of a second flow path is assigned to the hand shower, for instance. A valve piston which is movable from the first switch-over position to the second switch-over position and back depending on whether that portion of the second flow path that is routed beyond the switch-over valve has been closed or released is guided herein so as to be displaceable in the valve housing. This valve body is configured as a hollow body through which the fluid in the course of at least one of the flow paths is routed by way of at least one piston inlet that is disposed on the piston circumference. However, the previously known change-over valve of EP 1 664 957 B1 cannot be adapted to the different requirements of different applications, in particular also in the low-pressure range. Moreover, the previously known change-over valve is of a comparatively complex construction and requires a corresponding installation space.